Beasts of Burden
by Fanfic Lover 4evr
Summary: A little Limp!Brian after his and Dom's fight when Dom learns of Letty's decision to clear his name. Brian's injuries are much worse than they thought, and Dom feels the need to clear the air between the two of them... sort of.


**Fast and Furious**

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, myself and my muse are just borrowing them for a while.

Description: A little Limp!Brian after his and Dom's fight when Dom learns of Letty's decision to clear his name. My take on Brian's thoughts, and events that could have transpired after Dom beat the crap out of Brian.

Authoress Notes: There is far too little Limp!Brian, so I thought I'd add a story to the pile in hopes that I'll inspire other Brian O'Conner angst fans. ^_^

Enjoy!

* * *

Something in Brian broke the second he saw 'Letty' flash across his cell phone screen. His blue eyes lifted from the small electronic device, and he turned his head to meet fury filled brown ones.

"Oh shit," he breathed, walking towards Dom. "Hey Dom," he tried, knowing even then that it was pointless to try and stop Toretto.

"When were you going to tell me?"

"Dom," Brian tried again calmly to get through to the furious man. He could sense a fierce emotion running from Toretto as the man, face contorted in an angry expression, continued his furious gate towards the cop.

"When were you going to tell me you were running Letty?"

"Let me explain!"

"When were you going to…"

Then suddenly Brian felt strong hands wrap around his neck and he was off the ground. The flying sensation quickly wore off as he slammed into the standing shelf, and a sharp stinging sensation shot through his spine. His back impacted the rough wooden floor and he felt himself rolling to try and smooth out his rough landing. Brian could hear Mia behind the roaring in his ears, begging her older brother to stop. The sound of glass shattering penetrated his senses next, as did huffing and wheezing.

Brian realized in that moment that Dom would never realize his own guilt over Letty's death. If he had turned her away when she'd come to him, begging for a way to clear Dom's name so that he could come home to her and his little sister. He almost wanted Dom to kill him, beat the ever loving shit out of him just so he could feel a little better about sending her in like a lamb to the slaughter.

Dom's large hands were around his neck again and he was being forcibly pulled up and pushed back until his back once again come into contact with something hard and forgiving that caused his vision to momentarily turn white.

"You don't understand," Brian heaved as Dom's hands tightened around his throat. Either his guilt or the abuse his body was taking was making nausea rise in his throat, but he couldn't be sure.

Brian's adrenaline was beginning to kick in, and his brain's realization that he was in danger began overriding the suicidal guilt in his heart. His hands shot up and he began pushing Dom's face away in a desperate attempt to get the much larger man off of him.

"I don't understand?" Dom shouted angrily, tightening his hold around Brian's neck, squeezing it in an effort to make Brian feel as worthless, hurt, and in as much pain as he was. He pressed onwards violently even as Brian began fighting back.

In a quick thinking move, Brian dropped one of his arms from Dom's face and shot down against the crook of his elbow, effectively breaking the hold the bigger man had around his neck. But the relief slowly washed away as Dom threw him again.

Brian's poor back scraped against something once more before hitting the floor with a dull thump. His vision whited out again as his head smacked into something solid and unforgiving while his momentarily fled from his limp lungs. He didn't even have time to recover before fists were slamming against his face.

Stars erupted in front of his eyes and he realized Dom was the perpetrator. He lifted his hands trying to block as many blows as possible, but to no avail the colors kept dancing across his corneas while the thumping sound of flesh and bone impacted flesh and bone.

The blond began to grow desperate, becoming painfully aware that his once best friend was going to beat him to death. His training, and years of fighting forced him to lift his legs up and wrap around Dom's neck, squeezing as hard as possible. He honestly thought the action would stop Dom, and bring him back to his senses.

The sudden change in weight distribution made Brian realize he was sorely mistaking. His body lifted from the ground as Dom angrily pulled up to get Brian's chokehold from around his neck. The cop also realized that he shouldn't have underestimated Dom's grief fueled anger as the violent man used his momentum to send Brian's back into the hard floor.

It was when Brian saw the fist through the haze that he knew he had to explain quickly.

"She did it for you Dom!" In an instant, those words seemed to have their desired affects on Dominic Toretto. It was if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water of the man's head. His fist had paused in mid flight.

"She did it for you!" Brian shouted, then quickly raised his hand up to wipe away the blood he could feel dripping from his nose. "Letty came to me to clear your name in exchange for bringing down Braga. She just wanted you to come home!"

The nausea returned tenfold as he saw the look of horror and pain wash over Dom's face at the realization that her death was his entire fault. Brian saw water spring to the man's eyes and his guilt quadrupled, knowing that he could not make it better… couldn't bring her back.

Dom fully released Brian and turned away, walking dazedly into the darkness.

Something in Brian snapped as he watched the man retreat. He kicked his legs out, catching the table he'd smacked his head against. "I'm sorry, Dom," he spat pathetically. "I'm sorry."

Dom didn't turn around, just kept walking until he reached the sanctuary of his room and slammed the door shut.

Brian clenched his eyes shut at the sound and let himself fall back against the floor. Shortly after, small hands were wound around his right forearm. He cracked open a swelling eye to see Mia hunched over him. "You going to kick my ass now?" He asked in a lame attempt to regain some of his manhood.

She snorted and rolled her eyes, blinking back the tears the shone there. "I think Dom kicked your ass enough for the both of us."

Mia helped Brian to stand and remained with his arm slung over her shoulders as he wobbled back and forth. "You need to lie down," she pushed through clenched teeth, exerting her energy by keeping the man upright. "You're no lightweight Brian."

"I'm fine," he ground out defiantly. He pulled on his energy reserves and managed to pull away from her. "Go check on your brother, I need some air."

"No!" she frowned at him, stepping up to his chest, glaring at him as if he was the stupidest person she'd ever met. And ironically, at that moment he couldn't disagree.

He swayed, but managed to remain upright. "He needs you right now more than I do. I'll be fine, I'll just be right outside."

Brian could see the conflicting emotions running through her eyes. Her sister instincts were kicking in, but she also couldn't push out the ones that were telling her Brian's injuries needed to be tended to, and that he need to get somewhere soft and horizontal.

"Please," he said softly enough for her to know that he was begging.

"Fine, but right outside. Okay?"

Brian nodded watching as her expression crumbled a bit as she stepped around him. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

She nodded, but he couldn't see her, but he did hear what she said next. "I know. I'm pretty sure that Dom does too. The guilt has been eating him alive, and you sealed it when you told him what she did to bring him home."

He was thankful that she couldn't see the tears that were now dropping down his face, stopping at his chin until they fell to the floor. The sound of a door opening and closing softly, brought him back to the empty room.

Brian's eyes trailed up until they hazily met the skewed image of the door. Ignoring the pain that was causing his body to throb with every pulsation of his heart, he slowly wobbled to the door, pushing it open and stumbling into the crisp night air.

He maneuvered past the two parked cars, leaning on them heavily when he thought his legs would crumble, but kept pressing onwards. Brian O'Conner just needed to get the hell away from there. His brain and body turned to autopilot, and he kept walking.

His brain wandered over past memories, painfully remembering Vince, Jesse, Leon, and Letty. Mia and Dom. He'd never met a group of people since them that made him feel so much like he belonged. Dom was wrong when he accused him of not being their friends. He'd broken the cardinal rule of being undercover; he allowed himself to become emotionally attached to those people.

Letty's face, her shit eating grin popped into his head and he couldn't stop himself from doubling over and expelling the dinner he'd previously consumed. Tears of exertion and pain sprang to his eyes and he crumbled to his knees. "I'm so sorry," he whispered into the night.

Brian stayed like that for a while, on his knees in an unfamiliar world. He snorted, realizing that he'd wandered a lot further away from where he'd told Mia he would be. Hell, he didn't even know where the hell he was. "Shit," he mumbled, fumbling to get back to his feet.

It was the change in motion that did Brian in. White flashed before his eyes again and pain accompanied by dizziness drove him back to his knees. Pain flared from his back and head, his world began tilting to the left and he distantly understood that he was falling.

His eyes rolled back, turning into whites. Brian was unconscious before his battered body impacted the ground.

* * *

Consoling her brother was hard, but not impossible Mia realized as she wiped the stray tears lingering on Dom's face. "You know, she'd be calling you some pretty colorful names if she could see you right now, big brother."

"Pussy," Dom agreed.

Mia laughed and nodded, becoming somber shortly after. "She loved you Dom, and she also knew you loved her. Why do you think she was fighting so damn hard to bring you back?"

"She was so fucking stubborn."

"Not as bad as you… but close."

"I'm going to miss her," Dom spoke softly, reaching the cross that wrapped around his throat.

"I know. I will too."

"I'm going to kill Fenix."

"I know that too." Mia looked up to the closed door and offhandedly wondered how Brian was. "But you can't do it alone. You need him." Mia felt Dom tense beside her, and finally he relaxed a bit.

"Yeah. How bad is he?"

Mia swallowed and shrugged. "I'm sure it's not the first time he's had his ass kicked. He was wobbly, but he went outside for some fresh air. I should probably go and check on him."

As she started to stand up, Dom stopped her. "I'll go." Her eyebrow rose. "Promise to be nice," she ordered slowly.

He gave her that look and nodded. "I'll play nice Mia." Dom stiffly got to his feet and walked towards the bedroom door, pulling it open he stepped out before turning around. "You know, for being a pain in the ass, he's not so bad."

Mia smiled and nodded, "I've realized he's a lot like you in that respect."

Dom rolled his eyes and shook off the hanging grief that hung over him like a black cloud. He was out the door in just a few long strides, his eyes searched the yard that circled the small house. "O'Conner?" he called out, searching as a sinking feeling that the man had left washed over him.

Mia walked out seconds later, her expression grim as she searched with her brother. "He said he was just stepping outside. I don't think he could have gotten very far, he was wobbling earlier."

"Both of the cars are still here. You go that way." Dom ordered as he headed in the opposite direction. His eyes trailed over the lot and he pressed on when the search brought up nothing. "Where are you Brian?"

The search dragged on and Dom wondered if Brian had actually left. He was contemplating turning around and going back for the car when he saw a lump of something in a heap on the ground ahead. "Brian?" he called out. He wondered if maybe he should have brought a weapon with him in case Braga or the Feds had somehow managed to find them.

Dom's eyes widened in shock when he came upon the lump. "Fuck." He leaned down and gently rolled Brian over, grimacing at the bruises that covered his face and neck. There was blood dripping from the unconscious man's nose. He lightly slapped Brian's face to get a reaction, but after finding none, he pulled the man up and slung him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Mia," Dom shouted into the darkness. "I need your help."

* * *

Everything was warm and fuzzy where he was. Like a blanket had been thrown over his mind and he was able to float there where nothing could penetrate his fortress and bring him pain. He was sick of the pain, sick of the emotions that roiled through him.

Brian O'Conner was very good at self-loathing, it was something he took very seriously.

He continued to float off in a haze, wondering and ogling at his strange state of weightlessness. He imagined that the old gang was back together, racing, making all the other racers eat their dust. His sense of family was complete there in the fictional world he craved so desperately, but one that was torn away so suddenly.

As time pressed on, he became more aware. Pains and ached were beginning to file in one at a time until he felt as if his body was being set on fire.

"Gah," the sound pushed past his cracked his lips.

"Brian?"

He recognized the deep voice and a sense of dread washed over him as his body and mind sank into consciousness. "Mmm, hr'ts."

"You know for a cop, you're pretty stupid."

Brian cracked an eye open at that insult and he stared up into Dominic Toretto's dark eyes. "I could say the same about your criminal past," Brian croaked back. Suddenly water was at his lips, gliding down his throat and softening his chapped lips.

"At least I know how to fight back."

Brian ignored the latest insult and looked around the dark room they were occupying. He realized it was the room he'd seen Dom retreat to earlier after their mêlée. He was lying down on the bed, safely swaddled in a mound of blankets. Brian could feel the dry, flaking blood on his face and grimaced.

"You sore?"

Brian looked up at the man and nodded. Dom wasn't a man of many words, was he? He was also a blunt sonofabitch. "I think I could have done without you throwing me around like a rag doll."

"Yeah. Sorry 'bout that."

Brian realized that Dom was sitting in a chair next to the bed. The man appeared to have been keeping a vigil over him while he was out of it. Hope welled in his heart at the thought. Maybe they would be friends again one day. "Where's Mia?"

"Supplies."

"Oh. Drugs I hope," Brian said, feeling his nerve endings awakening to join the pain party. Suddenly a white pill and the cup of water appeared in front of his face. "She definitely comes prepared," the cop smiled and gratefully took the pill.

"Yeah, yeah she does."

Brian watched as Dom seemed to lose himself in his thoughts. "I'm sorry, you know."

Dom's expression changed to unreadable again. "I know."

"So… we good?"

Dom turned his head and stared Brian in the eyes. "Yeah, we're good." Then the man got to his feet and walked towards the door. "Sleep. We've got lots of work to do in the morning, Princess."

Brian smiled crookedly as Dom pulled the door shut. He lied back down and sighed heavily, feeling the burden in his chest lighten slightly. He went to sleep feeling more hopeful than he had in five years.

* * *

_Fin._

Reviews and helpful criticism are always welcome. I'd love to hear what you think, and thank you very much for taking the time to read. :)


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